My lower wisdom teeth were shallow-rooted, so as I recall, when I was 22 or 23, my dentist just numbed me up with Novocaine, took what looked like a pair of pliers, cracked the tooth and extracted the parts. The sockets healed up in a matter of days. I don't remember there even being a root canal done first.

I had to have my uppers cut out a little over 4 years ago, just 2 weeks before going to England for three weeks with the Scouts (World Scout Jamboree)! I got knocked out with a combination of a pill of some sort and some nitrous oxide. I vaguely recall walking in and sitting in the chair, then I was waking up and walking out to the car with my mother. (She drove me to & from the oral surgeon and stayed with me the rest of the day to make sure I recovered OK). I got a scrip for a few Oxycodone, but I weaned myself off them as quickly as I could. I've got a fairly high tolerance for pain, so it wasn't any big deal.

The oral surgeon also gave me a little syringe with a curved plastic tip to rinse the sockets with salt water for the first couple of weeks. He also told me to be careful how I chew & rinse while I was out of the country. No straws! The sockets took about 2 months to close up completely. Now I can barely tell they were there at all.


Meghan, I hope you have a swift recovery.